There were once three siblings who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the sisters reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these sisters were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure. And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three sisters upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him. So the oldest sister, who was a combative girl, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest sister. Then the second sister, who was an arrogant girl, decided that she wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second sister, and told her that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead. And then Death asked the third and youngest sister what she would like. The youngest sister was the humblest and also the wisest of the sisters, and she did not trust Death. So she asked for something that would enable her to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility. Then Death stood aside and allowed the three sisters to continue on their way and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death’s gifts. In due course the sisters separated, each for her own destination. The first sister traveled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom she had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as her weapon, she could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving her enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest sister proceeded to an inn, where she boasted loudly of the powerful wand she had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made her invincible. That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest sister as she lay, wine- sodden, upon her bed. The thief took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest sister’s throat. And so Death took the first sister for his own. Meanwhile, the second sister journeyed to her own home, where she lived alone. Here she took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in her hand. To her amazement and her delight, the figure of the boy she had once hoped to marry before his untimely death, appeared at once before her. Yet he was sad and cold, separated from her as by a veil. Though he had returned to the mortal world, he did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally, the second sister, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed herself so as truly to join him. And so Death took the second sister for his own. But though Death searched for the third sister for many years, he was never able to find her. It was only when she had attained a great age that the youngest sister finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to her son. And then she greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.